Egypt frees investigative journalist

Egyptian investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat has been freed from military custody following his arrest for “publishing false news”.

The 37-year-old’s release was confirmed by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), the human rights group he founded, and the news website Mada Masr, to which he is a contributor.News of his arrest on Sunday came just days after protests during the London visit of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. He has overseen the widespread curtailing of the Egyptian press since the former president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown in 2013. Objections to Sisi’s red-carpet reception focused on mass killings, the imprisonment of Muslim Brotherhood supporters and human rights abuses.

Negad al-Borai, a lawyer requested by Bahgat, said on Monday that the arrest was related to an article from October about the trial of military officers accused of a coup attempt.

The detention order was for four days but could have been renewed indefinitely and more charges issued. Mahmoud Abou Zeid, another journalist, has been in pre-trial detention for more than two years.